Dear Friends
by dikemon
Summary: From missions, to personal problems. From schoolwork, to the death of a loved one, there would always be a friend to be there for you. Starring mainly everyone in Class Zero excluding Rem and Machina. Features a lot of Eight, Jack, and Deuce.
1. Beginning and Smile

_**Dear Friends  
><strong>__(disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy Type-0)  
>Note this was written before the game was released.<em>

**Beginning**

Three teenagers were standing in front of a tall door. Deuce looked nervously at her two friends as she held the new red cape around her neck. "This is it."

Jack nodded and looked at his own red cape. It is the proof that they were the elite of the elite. "Yeah…can't believe it."

"Class Zero…" Eight's voice trailed off.

"Well, I'm glad I'm here with you guys." Deuce said to the both of them, "Are you ready?"

Jack grinned "Course I am."

"Always." Eight nodded.

Together, they entered the room, not knowing that this was the start of their end.

**Smile**

Seven looked at the grave. There were tears forming in her eyes, her hands were trembling. The silver-haired girl shook her head and shakily placed the flowers beside it.

_Éclair Saba_

"Mom…" she whispered.

"What are you doing here?" an all too familiar voice called out. Seven furiously tried to remove the tears.

"J-Jack!"

Jack smirked "That's me. Come on, everyone's waiting for you…"

"…No need to cry." He added very softly.

"What?"

"Smile for all she's given you." Jack smiled not his cheerful smile, but a very sincere one. Seven tried and smiled. Nothing felt better in the world.

* * *

><p><em>AN: I need inspiration, so I decided to take the hundred theme challenge by WaterAngel-Alyssa's._

_ Of course I'd start it with Eight, Jack, and Deuce. They are like my golden trio (they would seriously be my team if I get the game). And then we have a Jack/Seven one. Her mom's name is Éclair cause of a certain character who looks just like her. Saba just means seventh born XD. I got the title from the ending theme of Final Fantasy V._

_ I'll try my best to make it daily._


	2. Say Please and Haunted

**Summary: Say Please - **All you have to do is say please...or beat up the blonde samurai for answers (Nine and Queen story.) (Humor story. K plus just to be sure.)

**Haunted** - When you have an insane guy who listens to moogles for information as a friend. Please, never give into his whims. (Jack and Eight story.) (Humor story. K plus story just to be sure.)

* * *

><p><strong>Say Please<strong>

Cater twirled her gun on her finger as she looked lazily at Class Zero. Kurasame was on a special mission, so they had to write an essay. Not that she would do it though. She pretended to shoot Cinque with it "Pow."

"You have anything against me?" Cinque asked politely.

Cater raised her eyebrows and shook her head. She sighed and dismissed her gun. "Hmm, where the heck is Nine?" she asked.

"You shouldn't have said that~" Cinque sang in a happy tune.

There was a sudden slam. All the other students jumped except for Cinque, who seemed happy that her prediction came true "I told you~!"

And it was true, Nine was stomping towards Queen's desk. She looked up from her classwork and smiled "Need anything, Nine?"

"Give me back my spear!" he shouted. There were a sudden rush of murmurs coming from the others.

_'What's going on?' King asked.  
><em>

_'Dunno.' Sice shrugged  
><em>

_'I hope you know what you're doing~' Cinque sang to Jack, who was beside her at the moment._

_'Sure? Hey, look, something's happening.'  
><em>

Queen shook her head "What could you possibly mean, Nine?" she said in a fake worried tone.

"Queen!" he growled. "I know you stole my weapon during training and used some weird magic thing so that I wouldn't be able to summon it. Give it back!" He could hear giggles now.

She smirked, "Say please."

"What?" He asked her is as if it were a joke.

"It's so simple, Nine. Just say please."

He groaned, "I have no time for this, just give it back."

"_Please."_ Queen smiled. _How odd_, Nine thought, _Queen never acts like this_. "Fine. I'll help you Nine. Just this once._ E-hem, Queen, give me back my spear…"_

Nine could see his classmates trying to hold in their laughter. Jack was waving to him and gave a thumbs-up.

"now." He finished bluntly. Queen sighed and packed her things away.

"I'll see you guys later."

Nine choked and pulled her hand "Oh, come on! Queen!"

"Yes, Nine?" she asked sweetly.

He groaned as he heard Cater banging her hand on her desk, "Give me back my spear, **please**." he said the word harshly.

She held out her hand, as if she was going to summon it, but nothing appeared. She shrugged, "Not with me." She pulled back her hand and left the classroom. Not with her? What does that mean?

Jack let out a howl of laughter "Great job, Queen!" Nine glared at the blond. Jack had an "oh crap" face and tried to run, but Nine got to him first.

"You. Are. So. Dead."

"Good luck Jack~" Cinque sang, because she knew he needed all the luck in order to survive.

**Haunted**

_Dealing with homework at midnight is tough business_, Eight thought, _especially if you have someone like this…_

"I'm telling you, there is a toilet in the girl's bathroom that's haunted by a monster! It only comes once a year, and today's the day!" Jack flailed his arms in the air.

…_with you._

The rest of the boys just stared at the samurai-in-training.

"Jack…" Ace scooted away from him "Who exactly told you that?"

"The moogle near the fountain!" Jack said with full confidence.

Nine literally face palmed at that moment. "You're an idiot."

Jack snarled, "You want proof?"

"If you can, Jackie." Nine smirked.

"Shuddap," Jack scowled, "I do not look like Jackie from Class Ten! Sure, she might be blonde and we nearly have the same eyes."

"Don't forget she uses a katana." Eight added as he jotted down the words to his essay.

"Yeah! Hey wait…"

"And she's fat, like you." Nine chimed in, "And she's a liar, making up fake stories and all."

"I AM NOT FAT!" Jack shrieked and realized how loud his voice was. He bended down, his face now scarlet "And I am no liar! I'll show you! Eight!" he pointed to his friend, who in return, just lazily looked up to him."Come with me, we'll prove Nine wrong!"

Eight cleaned his ear with his finger and blew the dirt off, "Try keeping it down will you? We're going to get in trouble, _again,_ because of you. Anyways, I need to finish this assignment."

Suddenly he felt something wrap around his waist. He looked down to see Jack hugging him around the waist, "Please!"

"No." he smacked him with the book near him

"But Eight!" Jack whined like a little kid. These were the moments when Eight wondered how on earth he became friends with this guy. He sighed, placed down his pencil, and removed Jack's grip on him.

"Fine. But I blame you for everything."

"Yay!" Jack jumped up and pulled his best friend out of the room.

"Boy, do I feel sorry for him." Nine muttered under his breath, he then turned to Ace, "Wanna see a _certain _picture of Queen again?"

Ace stared at him, shook his head furiously, and left the room as well.

Meanwhile, the two ventured out to the girl's dormitory with nothing asides from their shirts and boxers. They climbed down the stairs and looked at the hallway in front of them.

Eight placed a hand on Jack's shoulder, "Dude, can we go back. I'm kinda worried about-"

Jack snickered, "When did you become so scared of monsters?"

"I-I'm not scared!...of monsters at least…" he whispered, "I'm scared of the girls."

Jack had to hold in his laughter for the sake of their cover, otherwise he might have been laughing his butt off. "Alright." He said with a giggle, "We just have to look in the girl's bathroom. If none of the toilets look weird, then I'm wrong."

So, very carefully, they went inside the bathroom and looked at the first stall.

"Oh my gosh!" Jack pointed to the bloody toilet.

"Eew." Eight said as he smelled it "Must be that blood thing girls have. Let's move on."

"No, are you crazy?" Jack gave him an insane look, "This is perfect! Don't you get it! It must be the monster's toilet! Let's stay!"

Eight was about to argue until they saw the door open. Immediately, he kicked the door and they both stood on top of the toilet. They kept as silent as possible.

"This is all your fault!" Eight mouthed.

"Shut it!" Jack mouthed back. He felt himself wobble and tugged onto his partner. The redhead lost his balance and his foot fell into the toilet.

Specifically, his naked foot fell into the toilet filled with blood. Jack covered his mouth, he was dying of laughter. Eight grabbed him by the collar and was about to do a head bang on him when-

"Whose there?" a shrilly voice asked them.

Jack gasped and whispered in the quietest voice possible "It's the mons-mons-monster." he was still laughing at the bloody leg, "Y-Y-Y-You made her mad by putting your foot in the toilet!"

Eight looked at him for a moment and considered what to do. He shrugged to himself and head banged Jack. "Ouch!"

"Blaming you for everything, dude." he smirked.

"Eight! Jack! Get out of there!" the shrilly voice said to them. They looked at each other.

"H-How on Oriens did that-"

"It's the monster. This toilet is haunted!" Jack shook his head in laughter "Take that Nine!"

Eight stared in disbelief "I'm-"

"Blaming me for everything. Got it. Just get ready and hope for the best." Jack said as he summoned his katana. He unlocked the door and saw a monster with a green face. For some strange reason, it only has green circles for eyes. Jack screamed, "Monster!"

She growled and pulled off her eyes, "It's Queen, you morons!"

"What's up with the voice?" Jack stared in disbelief.

"Sore throat. What happened to your leg?"

Eight jerked a thumb to Jack and Queen nodded her head "Now tell me, why are you boys hiding in the girl's bathroom?"

"Looking for monsters, that's all." Jack said casually.

"Don't lie to me, why are you here?" Queen said, slightly annoyed now.

"I'm not lying." Jack mocked Queen's tone "Hey! Are you the monster? Cause with the thing on your face, you really do look like one."

Oh snap. Eight gulped. At that moment, he knew he'd rather face any monster, even freaking behemoth, than Queen.

* * *

><p><em>AN:(revised as of 8/25/2011)  
><em>

_**Say Please** – Cinque action! Yay! "Her unusual personality and unpredictable actions tend to cause others to stay away from her. Her acute 6th sense allows her to sense danger easily." was how she was described in this week's Dengeki PS. Queen and Nine moment too...  
><em>

_**Haunted** – …Yeah…Blood in toilet... Queen's a monster. Rawr.  
><em>

__ Thanks for all the reviews. I took into consideration, so now I review my wording (thanks Greykeys!) and I'll break the rule of the hundred word limit (No blame on Yuki. Actually, I thank you for telling me that, I hated that word limit, mind you...). Also, thanks to zeon-06! __


	3. Moon and Wild

**Summary: Moon** - Just when you thought you're all alone, they comes to find you. (Sice story with some King) (Friendship story, K [it is safe, right?], may include OoC Sice)

**Wild** - When someone close to you is dying, who do you blame? (Eight and Jack story) (Angst story, T for violence, may include OoC Eight)

* * *

><p><strong>Moon<strong>

It was the last day of school before spring break and there had been excited chatter of going home. (none from Class Zero though, who had to stay in case any mission came up) As a treat, the Board decided to hire a theater as a thank you for all their hard work. The play was called "I Want to be Your Canary" and was supposed to be shown right after the parade. Sice stood at one of Peristerium's numerous balconies by herself while the rest of Class Zero were watching the performers from the far reaches of Rubrum, to perform for the prestigious School of Magic.

_I think it was called the Tantalus Theater Troupe or something like that..._ She thought, shrugging to herself as she watched the festive courtyard below her aimlessly.

The moon above her looked very pretty tonight, though it was obvious to Sice no one noticed how different tonight's moon was because of the festivities. It was the rare, once-every-decade Blue Moon. It was a shame her classmates weren't there.

"So this was where you are." King smirked at her. She rolled her eyes and ignored him. He didn't seem to notice though.

"Everyone's looking for you." he sighed as he went up beside her.

"Psh," Sice let out another snicker. "As if. I'm sure they are busy watching that traveling theater thing in the courtyard."

He smiled, "That's what you think."

She groaned, "Oh come on! You know those guys…they think I'm a freak. Why would they look for me?"

The blonde shook his head and laughed. Her face flushed. "The things you don't know…" he breathed.

"What?"

King shot his gun in the air and immediately there was a thunder of footsteps that followed. She looked back and saw Class Zero enter the balcony one by one. They looked tired, as if they just ran a marathon.

"Jeez, we tried to search all over the place for you!" Nine shouted at her, though not because of anger. It seemed more like worry.

Cinque nodded, "You promised us that you were going to watch the act with us."

"We thought you might have gotten sick or something!" Cater shook her head, "Tell us next time, will ya?"

Sice had no idea what to say. King spoke for her, "It's a blue moon today. Not the average blue moon though."

"Is that moon _blue_?" Ace asked in awe as the other students started to whisper about how incredible it looked.

"I read about this before. I didn't know it was today." Queen adjusted her glasses so that she can get a better view.

"Is this why you're here Sice?" Trey asked her, "You could have told us. You made us worried. We looked everywhere, and I mean everywhere. Cafeteria, classrooms, dormitories, and we even sneaked into Kurasame's personal-"

"Okay, Sir Talk's-a-Lot," Jack interrupted and looked at Sice, "What he's trying to say is that we got really worried. And that we _didn't_ sneak into Kurasame's personal room just to make sure you didn't get detention."

Sice was never a girl of words, and this moment might have proved it once again, "B-But…why?"

"Why shouldn't we?" Seven responded with a surprised look in her eyes.

"But all you guys were talking about for the two weeks was that st-" she was about to say stupid, but considered the act her classmates had done for her, and at least decided to hold back on profanity for the moment, "Theater guys. Why?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Eight smiled at her, "You're our _friend._"

There were murmurs of agreement from all her classmates. "Group hug with Sice!" Deuce cheered. Everyone shouted and laughed and huddled into a circle. Sice was then crushed by the bodies of her classmates and she couldn't help but laugh. It had been a long time since she felt this…it was a warm feeling. It made her feel happy.

She looked at King, who was at the very back of the hug, smiling at her.

_Wait, didn't I tell King that I didn't want to go to that Theater thing and to tell the others I just wasn't feeling well? I told him I was going to the balcony and to call me if I lost track of time…_ It then hit her. She smiled at King knowingly. The feeling was overwhelming. Tears started to form.

"H-hey! Don't cry now!" but she couldn't. She broke down into her friends' arms.

_Yes, I am their friend. And I am proud to say they are mine._

**Wild**

_Why the hell did Arecia give us this mission? Why? Why fal'cie? Why?_

Eight paused for a moment for a while and sighed sadly.

_Right. It was all me. I asked Arecia to give us this one, to take back a town where the Milites have invaded. Arecia had said no many times, that not even Class Zero's top students would be able to handle it. Did I listen? Of course not. My last mission with Nine and Ace went horribly wrong. I knew I made myself look bad, so I needed to prove myself._

_ Worst part? I got Jack and Deuce involved in this crap..._

Eight took off his bloody knuckles and tried to remove the stains with his spit. He angrily wiped it on his sleeve and threw it. Here he was; in an abandoned house that looked like it was going to fall apart. They were hiding from those Milites soldiers since they were in no condition to fight, especially Deuce...

No. No. No. He slid down the wall and covered his face with his hands. A few hours before this, Jack saw a man being beaten up by a soldier when they were spying on the town. He had no choice but to rescue him, even though Arecia strictly told them to wait until everyone went to sleep before their attack. As soon as he rushed in though, he was surrounded. They had no choice but to fight. Unfortunately, Jack was about to get shot by a poisonous bullet had Deuce not pushed him away. She suffered in his stead. They had to run after that.

Jack was now in a room, doing his best to heal her.

_Please, fal'cie of Rubrum, Concordia, or even Pulse (whoever that was), don't let-_

There was a soft shut from the door and then a thud. He stood up and looked at Jack. His friend's sleeves rolled up to his elbows and his hands stained with blood. His head was down and his eyes were shut tight, as if he was thinking of the right words to say "Eight…"

"How is she?" the brawler demanded. Jack opened his eyes and looked at him. He noticed that his eyes were red and his face looked wet.

"I've used up all my magic…I'm so tired…Deuce…" he shook his head in regret "She-"

"What happened to her?"

"She's…the poison...I have no idea how to cure it..." a tear slid down his eye. Eight felt something in his stomach twist. Deuce is going to…no. No!

Eight fiercely grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up "Damn it! This is your entire fault!"

Jack let out a sob, "Eight, wait, consider-"

"Don't Jack!" he shrieked at him "If you didn't disobey the orders from Arecia, she would have-"

"I KNOW! BUT IT"S YOUR FAULT WE GOT THIS STUPID MISSION IN THE FIRST PLACE!" Jack cried,

"Damn it…I know…I'm _sorry_."

That was the last word he wanted to hear. Eight clenched his hand and punched Jack right against his cheek. "It's too late!" he was crying as well. He punched Jack again. It was much stronger this time. The poor victim showed no sign of resistance. He kept on beating him though, each punch stronger than the last. He had no control of his actions, he was going wild.

There was a creek from the door. A weak wheezing sound could be heard, "Stop it…Eight." But it was too late. Eight's fist was blazing with fire.

Deuce gasped "STOP IT!" And then there was a flash of light.

Eight felt himself drop on the floor with Jack right on top of him. Was that the _Flash_ spell? Not even Ace or Queen knew the spell.

His ears didn't seem to hear anything. He tasted a pang of metal in his mouth. His vision was slowly turning into black. Deuce was shaking her head, mouthing words "No! Jack, Eight! Wake up! Please! I'm so sorry…" She then vomited...was that blood? The poison was getting to her. She knew that herself and tried to run, but immediately fainted.

He wanted to call out her name, but felt too weak to even open his mouth. He lost control. This was his fault. He blamed it on Jack, even though it was his.

Only one thing went through his mind.

_What have I done?_

* * *

><p><em>AN:** Moon** – Wanted to make a Sice story. She may be OoC in here, but I wanted to explore her character. So…here? And yes, there is such thing as a "blue" moon._

_**Wild**– Wanted to do some fighting amongst my golden trio. Deuce used some powerful magic thing just there...fail I know. Might continue this if the right theme comes up._

_Did you hear? THEY ARE GOING TO HAVE A NEW DEMO (during TGS)! This time with new characters including Cinque, I wonder if that means the first seven in the first demo will take a break and the other seven will have some action (please put it on the website! I wanna play Seven, Eight, Jack, Deuce, Cater, Cinque, Trey…that's all of them…)_

_Thanks to **Yuki** and **Greykeys** for reviewing, you guys definitely help me a lot. I learned a lot just these past two days. So thank you! _

_Edited on September 10, 2011  
><em>


	4. Lucky and Short & Sweet

**Summary: Lucky - **When you think about it, she is one lucky girl. (Cater and Deuce story.) (Humor story [I guess], K plus for language [just in case])

**Short and Sweet - **Never, ever, look at a picture Nine gives you, unless you want to die. (Trey story) (Humor story, K plus for suggestive themes [just in case {again}])

* * *

><p><strong>Lucky<strong>

It was a warm Saturday afternoon. Most of the students in Suzaku spent their time outside, being with friends and fellow schoolmates. Deuce and Cater, however, were busy inside the study hall. Kurasame had assigned his class a big test and Deuce was going to help Cater review. Unfortunately, the gun wielder didn't feel like reading and asked Deuce to just read to her the important parts.

Deuce being…well, Deuce, she couldn't say no. So she pulled out her notebook and began to recite what she wrote. Cater summoned her gun and pulled out a rag from her pocket. She began to polish her gun, as it helped her concentrate…on unimportant things. She saw Deuce's mouth move, but Cater felt so lazy that she couldn't even pay attention to what she was saying. She moved her eyes towards the other people in the room; Eight and Jack, who were busted by Queen for being in the girl's bathroom late at night. She was really angry that they called her a monster.

_You know, Deuce is really lucky to have those guys around._ Cater thought, _They will __**die**__ for her if they have to. Not only that, she's practically the baby of our class!  
><em>

The flutist stopped speaking and gave her a questioning look. The redhead just gestured to go on, and so she did.

_Thinking about it…_

_Ace doesn't give _too_ many orders to her. Trey likes to give her advice. Cinque, who also acts like a baby at times, is an older sister to her. Sice isn't _that_ rude when she talks to her. Seven enjoys talking to her, which is amazing since she rarely talks._

_Eight, pfft, don't get me started. Him, Jack, and Deuce have been classmates since day one. They practically _are _her older brothers. _

_Nine does his best not to cuss in front of her. Queen gets mad if he does. Well, she's always mad at him, so it doesn't count. And finally King just enjoys being beside her when she plays her flute._

_What do I get? None of the above, if not worse…_

_Man, Deuce is one heck of a lucky girl!_

"Did you get that Cater?" she asked her. Cater nodded and gave a thumbs-up.

"Great! I hope you're ready. I'm going to ask questions for you later."

Cater groaned inwardly.

_That does not sound good at all._

"So bored!" Jack said in an exceptionally loud voice..

Suddenly, Eight him hit on the back of his head "Dude! If any of the teachers hear you-"

"As if," Jack rolled his eyes as he pulled up two ice cream sandwiches, "You want?"

"Like I want to get into more trouble." Eight pushed his hand away.

"Alrighty then, Deuce, you want this!"

"Yay!" Deuce went to the boys and happily ate her treat.

Cater shrugged and lazily opened her book. It burned her eyes just to look at a sentence, much more a whole paragraph.

Deuce was also a very,_ very_, smart girl, which was why she was trying to help her in the first place. Besides Queen and Ace, Deuce is one of Kurasame's favorites! (or at least Tonberry's)

Cater saw her happily nibbling on her ice cream and grumbled "Really lucky…"

**Short and Sweet**

Trey looked carefully at the target. He pulled the tip of the arrow and positioned his bow. He took a quick breath and released it. Bullseye. He smirked and dismissed his bow. Well that takes care of training for the day. He patted his hands together and was prepared to leave until he heard an excited yell.

He turned around to see a certain Nine running into his direction. He had an evil grin on his face.

_That couldn't be good._ Trey thought glumly, as he was always one to avoid problems.

"Yo!" Nine slowed down as he reached the archer, "Tell me, Trey, do you have a second to spare?"

He looked at him curiously, _What was this guy up to?_

He shrugged, figuring that he will be able to leave once Nine was done with whatever he has.

"Okay." He gave an evil chuckle. He pulled from his pocket a picture and hid it from Trey's view "You sure?" he said in a teasing voice.

He nodded and Nine slowly revealed the picture. He examined it carefully. This was Deuce whose skirt was…oh dear.

_Dear fal'cie…forgive me._

"THERE HE IS!" Jack pointed at the far side of the training grounds.

"HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO DEUCE!" Eight screamed, running at top speed.

Nine beamed and placed the photo back in his pocket, "Later!" and he began to make his escape.

Trey sighed sadly, "Ah yes, a short yet…sweet moment."

* * *

><p><em>AN: __**Lucky –**__ For now, until I play the game, I will assume, my stories will have that "Jack and Eight are Deuce's big brother thing." Back to the story, I just wanted to see how Class Zero would treat their "baby sister". Not much into it._

_**Short and Sweet – **__Well, Trey is a quiet guy, so we have no idea what goes on in his head…Kept it short for the purpose of the title (and I can't think of anything else)_

_Edited on September 10, 2011. Lucky was supposed to be connected to Haunted by the way.  
><em>


	5. Fear and Hero

_**Summary****:**__**Fear**__ – Everybody knew he hated weapons. Nobody knew why exactly. (Eight's [fake] backstory) (Tragedy, T for murder)_

_**Hero**__ – Can't anyone understand that he was dealing with something important that day? He just wanted to be left alone… (Jack and Cater story) (Hurt/comfort story, T for swearing, Jack maybe OoC in here)_

* * *

><p><strong>Fear<strong>

Everyone in school knew Eight doesn't use weapons. They all knew he hated them. They knew it had something to do with the past. They believed he thought he was better than weapons. They assumed it was because of the Milites. What a total lie. They never knew the true story. They never knew why he hated weapons.

It was a warm summer day in his village. Eight was playing with his friends. He was like every eight year old kid at that time. He had no problems or worries. All he knew about life back then was to study hard, obey his parents, and have fun. He never knew about the terrorists invading small villages. So it scared him when they came to his village.

They took away their food.

They took away their electricity.

They took away their happiness.

And they made him do the most horrible thing a person could have done.

He was shaking behind the sofa when one of them barged in the door. He tore his home apart and barked out orders to other terrorists when he found his parents hiding in the closet. "Are you the only one living here?" he yelled at them.

"Yes." His father signaled him to go outside through the backdoor. Out of his own selfishness and obedience to his parents, he did what he was told. He carefully crawled towards the kitchen and held the door. He was about to open it when someone from behind it did.

It was another terrorist.

He hit Eight on the cheek with his gun. He clearly recalled the horror on his parents' face he was he dragged him in front of them with a terrible gash across his face. The other terrorist, who was talking to them, seemed extremely angry to discover that they had a son. "So, you said you had no child. Since this is not your son, then he can kill you right?"

"Kill?" he muttered, "What do you mean?"

He handed Eight a gun. "They claim they are not your parents. I don't think so. I would be pretty pissed if I were you. Come on. Shoot them for what they deserve."

He felt frozen. His soul felt like it had left him. He stared blankly at his parents and then to the gun. He shook his head slowly. "I won't."

"Aw, the little boy doesn't know how to kill?" the terrorist mocked him. He then took the gun from his hand, "This is how you do it!" He then aimed the gun at his mother and pulled the trigger. His mother just dropped dead on the ground. A pool of blood emerged after. Her husband tried to get her, but the other terrorist had his gun pointed at him.

"MOM!" Eight screamed. He was about to run to her when the terrorist punched him in the gut.

"Now time for Pops." The terrorist said as he threw the gun back to him. "Don't disappoint me, kid. Or you're next."

Eight gulped and shakily held the gun. He tried to aim it at his arm so that the shot won't be lethal. His hand was shaking though.

"Just shoot." His father said, "I'm ready to die. You still have a life to live."

"Dad…" he tried to force himself not to cry, but the tears that fell down betrayed him, "Please, don't say that!"

"Agh! Stop this crap kid." The terrorist pulled the hair on his head and nearly lifted him from the floor. "Kill him or you're next."

He held Eight's arm and pointed it to his father, "Go on. And no funny business or you'll regret it."

The boy looked helplessly at his father and shook his head, "What should I do?"

Suddenly, his father ran towards him. Eight yelped and pulled the trigger. "DAD!"

He wanted to hear a loud shriek of pain. Maybe even a curse. But there was nothing but a thud. He opened his eyes to see his father in the same limp position as his mother.

The terrorist patted him on the back, "Good for you kid. Now you know what it is like to kill! Now time to kill you too." But when he finished that statement, a young man with purple hair barged through the door. He wore some type of uniform with a red cape. The terrorist yelled out something, but the man quickly stabbed him in the gut. Eight watched as blood dribbled down his mouth and the color of his eyes slowly faded. The man picked up the terrorist's dead body and looked at the boy, "Stay here until I tell you it's safe. I…I'll help you figure out what to do." He then left.

Eight stared at the gun. He killed his own father. In just one second, he was gone. He threw the gun at the opposite side of the house and fell to his knees. It then sunk in. He was alone.

"NO!" he screamed as he woke up on his bed. Fast-forward nine years and here he was, in one of the dormitories of Rubrum's magic academy, Peristylium Suzaku. He looked at Jack, his roommate, and hoped that he had not woken him up. Instead, he just mumbled something about Moohemoths.

Eight sighed and placed his head back on his pillow. It had hurt him to just think of his parents, much more remember the day they died. The reason he hated weapons was not because he thought he could do better. He feared the speed of how they can kill people. It didn't matter if the person was a child or an elder, a man or a woman, an enemy or a loved-one. It simply does its job, to kill.

That was why he feared them so much.

**Hero**

Jack's classmates looked at him with worry. This was not right. Not right at all. Eight waved a hand in front of his face, "Oi. Class is over. Come on."

No reply. They looked at each other. This was certainly weird. Jack was usually one of the first people to escape once Kurasame's lessons were done. He also had a big grin on his face when it does. Now, there was no grin. There was not even a trace of a smile or smirk.

"Jack." Cinque tried to shake him on the shoulder. He looked up at her, his expression showed no confusion or embarrassment. Instead, it showed anger.

"What the hell?" he yelled at her. "Can't you see I'm trying to think of something? Jeez, why can't you leave me alone? Leave me alone, you dumb-"

Cinque gasped and immediately left the room with tears in her eyes. Trey glared at him before chasing after her. The others were simply stunned by what he said. Jack never cursed. Ever.

"Hey, calm down." Nine said coolly, "Look, why are you so angry? Sure, everyone has their days, but cussing at Cinque is not cool. What is up with that?"

Queen smirked at him, "As if you don't curse, Nine."

"Hey. That's me. And I don't curse to girls…well except you. Jack is different." Nine shrugged and left the room. In honest truth, even _he_ expected more of Jack. King followed shortly after. When thirty minutes had past, it was only Jack, Eight, Deuce, and Cater remaining in the room.

"Jack. Is there something wrong?" Deuce asked softly. "Why do you look so angry?"

Jack groaned very loudly to show that he is very annoyed with the conversation. "Mind your own business, will ya, Douche? Yeah, you heard me, douchebag. You are so annoying, you know? And what kind of parent will give their child a name that sounds like douche? Stupid ones, I guess."

Her eyes widened and immediately her breathing started to become uneasy. Eight went up to him and punched him right on the face, "Dude? What is wrong with you?"

Jack shook his head and stood up. "Oh yeah. Yeah. What's wrong with me? What's wrong with me! I'm not the one who murdered my own father! Am I right, Eight?" he grabbed his assignment and stormed away from them.

Deuce rubbed away the tears and immediately forgot what Jack had said to her when she saw Eight's expression. He shook his head away from them and swore with a shaky breath. Cater simply shrugged and turned to flutist, "Hey, I'm going to see what's wrong with him."

Cater's first guess on where Jack went to, the cafeteria, was where he was. He was sitting in a booth and looked very… "Emo." Cater said loudly, "Man. You are such an idiot, ya know?**"**

He shook his head and yelled, "I thought I told you to leave me alone."

She summoned her gun and began to polish it, "You told Cinque that, not me."

"Well I meant it to you as well." He said coldly.

"Great!" she said sarcastically, "The more reason not to!"

"Oh fal'cie." He looked up to the heavens, "Please hear me. I have a new sacrifice for you. She's right beside me. I'll be grateful if you take her now."

She rolled her eyes and chuckled, "Shut up Jackass. Now tell me, what's your problem? What's up with the angry-bit?"

"Angry?" he asked, though his tone was a little softer, "Why does everyone assume I'm angry?"

"Well, you have been cussing to everyone. You even cussed to Deuce and Cinque, which even Nine, Sice, and myself won't do. Man, you reached a new low for that. Congratulations, buddy." She slapped him on the back a little too hard.

He glared at her and rubbed the aching spot, "I'm not angry, Cater. I'm upset." She raised an eyebrow and continued to listen, "Cater. My hero, my idol…my uncle, he died yesterday…"

Now that took her by surprise. "W-what?"

"My uncle, who inspired me to pick up a katana, the one who I think of as my father since my real father died ten years ago, died in the war today." He said very weakly that Cater had to sit beside him in order to hear it all. She looked at him and saw that his eyes were watery. "I wasn't angry. I was upset. I felt that no one seemed to notice the lost I just had. No one gave a damn care."

Cater punched him weakly on the shoulder, "Oh fal'cie. Consider taking this guy as your sacrifice instead since he is truly a dumb idiot."

Finally, for the first time that day, he smiled, though it was a faint smile. "Explain."

"Okay. Uncle, your hero, died today. Big boo-hoo. Then you go to class to think everyone would know that news? If you at least _told_ us, then we would have kept our mouths shut." Cater couldn't help but grin at his reaction, "So do you agree that you are an idiot?"

He didn't do anything for a while. Then slowly, he nodded his head. "Yeah. I kinda was…huh?"

"Kinda?" she smirked.

He sighed and shook his head, "Okay, fine, big idiot."

"Tell me…why didn't ya tell us?"

Jack raised his eyebrows and gave a weak smile, "Well, everyone sees me as the joker of the class. I dunno, everyone seems depressed about the war and I want to keep the class happy. If I show that I'm sad, that will definitely ruin the picture."

"Thus," she continued, "Instead of expressing your pain to us, you turned into a big jerk. That is _way_ better than getting all emotional."

He frowned and looked at her. "Sorry…"

"To me? Nah, no problem." She said as she stood up and stretched her arms. "You might wanna apologize to the others. Especially Cinque. I don't think Trey was happy that you made her cry."

"Yeah, yeah. I know."

"But first," she held out her arms, "My mother always said that hugs are the best way to let out one's emotion, or something like that. Me? I think they feel good."

Jack snickered at the idea of hugging Cater, but when she pointed her gun at him, he knew she meant business. He laughed as he began to hug her. As she wrapped her arms around him though, the familiar feeling that his uncle gave him returned. He nearly stopped breathing and closed his eyes tight as he began to feel the tears form. He held her tightly and wanted to relieve that emotion, even though it was painful to remember.

"_Jack, there is always a time when a human dies. There is always a moment of sadness, but you have to learn how to let go. Let their soul be free, or they will regret dying." His uncle once said to him when his father died._

He felt her releasing her grasp, but he didn't want to let go. He felt her shift under his arms, "Fine, just a little longer." She muttered.

_Let go, Jack! Let go! Let go…! Let go... _He repeated to himself until finally he unwrapped himself from Cater. His breathing was uneven and his vision was blurred. _Take care…_

He looked away from her and cleaned his face with his sleeve. He then turned back her. He felt much better already. "Thank you, Cater."

"Yeah." She said as if she were in a dream, "No problem. Hey. Don't feel bad that your hero died Jack. He wouldn't want that, right? Unless he was a sadist…"

He grinned and nodded. She was right.

His uncle was a sadist.

* * *

><p><em>AN: __**Fear**__ – I immediately thought of Eight's fear of weapons when I saw the prompt. I made up the whole terrorist story. I was going to use Milites, but I'm pretty sure they weren't bad yet…I'm sure those who read Why was Sice afraid of Seven know what Moohemoths are :D…_

_**Hero –**__ I did very little to make the prompt connected to the story XD. Come on, Jack maybe the cheerful one in class, but even he should have his "dark days". Also, I think Cater/Jack is slightly possible o3o_

__You know, at this rate, Cater is going to join the ranks of Eight, Jack, and Deuce in this story :P_ (though I was kind of surprised at how high her voice is)  
><em>

_I'm scared to say that with the new voice clips, Cinque is starting to sound like the class' baby instead of Deuce…why! (sobs) Oh well…at least TGS is coming in a few more days! I'm so excited! Hope we get some Seven, Deuce, and Trey gameplay and maybe more Eight and Cater gameplay!  
><em>


End file.
